Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has informed the Bush administration that he plans to strike back if Iraq attacks Israel, according to Israeli and Western officials, cited by The New York Times.
In its Sunday edition, the newspaper reported that Sharon's statements were issued privately to high-ranking American officials in recent weeks, represent a major change in Israeli thinking since the 1991 Gulf war.
The Premier’s stance reflects a widespread belief amongst various Israeli politicians and generals that Arab leaders perceived Israel's restraint in 1991 as “weakness”, the daily added. Throughout his long career, Sharon has always believed that any attack on Israel must be promptly and powerfully punished.
According to The New York Times, the Israeli leader’s stand has significant implications for the Pentagon, which is concerned that an Israeli entry would stir up Arab public opinion and make it harder for the Pentagon to maintain cooperation from the Arab countries, where the US hopes to base American forces.
It should be noted that on Thursday, US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told Congress that it would be in Israel's "overwhelming best interests" not to intervene if Washington went to war with Baghdad.
Israeli officials say they have been told by their American counterparts that the United States will mount an intensive campaign to destroy Iraqi missile launchers in the western part of Iraq, an operation that would almost certainly require the use of American commandos in addition to air-strikes.
Furthermore, US officials have also assured the Israelis that they will receive adequate warning of when the US operation will start, though American officials have not said how much notice they will provide.
In another development, The Washington Post reported in its Sunday edition that a consensus has begun to emerge among Pentagon war planners that the United States should conduct a narrowly focused but extremely intense attack that will be radically different from the 1991 War.
Although the planning is far from complete and remains fluid, military officials and advisers told the nespaper the broad outlines of an attack against Saddam Hussein are starting to take shape. They include the targets for U.S. warplanes and missiles, the size and character of the U.S. ground force, and the potential endgame of a U.S. invasion.
According to top U.S. military officers the emerging "concept of operations" is unlike the 1991 war - neither Iraq's infrastructure nor its military rank-and-file would be targeted. Instead, the U.S. military is thinking about how to execute a sharply focused strike on Saddam and the people and institutions that keep him in power. And rather than a five-week-long air campaign followed by a ground attack, as happened in 1991, the report added. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
